FALSE ARREST CLAIMED IN SUIT FOR $75,000

Anule Dorisca has filed suit claiming he was wrongly arrested seven times and spent 64 days in jail because a suspect used Dorisca's name as an alias.

The arrests "were due solely to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department's failure to establish an effective identification system for those persons arrested," Dorisca said in a complaint filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court on Friday. "That on each occasion the restraint was unreasonable and not warranted by the circumstances."

Dorisca also named as defendants the cities of Boynton Beach and Lake Worth and the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office and the Office of the Public Defender. He is seeking more than $75,000 in damages from the five defendants.

An address was not available for Dorisca, who is represented by Schuler and Wilkerson, P.A., of West Palm Beach.

Dorisca claims that between Aug. 30, 1982, and June 10, 1985, he was arrested seven times. He said the authorities intended to arrest another man -- who had used Dorisca's name -- for probation violations but, since the suspect had given his name as Dorisca, Dorisca was arrested instead.

The complaint says that the suspect was arrested Nov. 3, 1981, by the Sheriff's Office for possession of marijuana. Dorisca claims the suspect impersonated him when arrested, was prosecuted under the plaintiff's name and sentenced to 18 months on probation.

Mike McNamee, sheriff's spokesman, was not aware of the suit but said Dorisca's claim very likely could be true.

"I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't doubt it because it happens on a fairly routine basis," he said. "It's routine that criminals use aliases. It's not unusual for them to use an alias of a real person."

"Until I see the lawsuit I won't comment on it," said Boynton Beach City Attorney James Vance.